A Visit to the New Ad Hoc Addendum

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Ad Hoc's fabulous fried chicken -- now available to-go three days a week.

If you’ve lamented never being able to make it to Ad Hoc in Yountville for one of its famous fried chicken nights, you’re now in luck.

The newest addition to Chef Thomas Keller’s gourmet empire is Ad Hoc Addendum, a take-out operation, where you can enjoy the fried chicken, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

You’ll find the Addendum kiosk by walking behind Ad Hoc restaurant, past a small parking lot to a pretty picnic area complete with tables and chairs, plus lush trees for plenty of shade, and a small vegetable garden that grows provisions for the restaurant.

The sign marks the spot.

Order here.

Enjoy your fried chicken at one of the picnic tables. Or take it home to enjoy.

Addendum, which opened opened two months ago, offers a choice of the superb buttermilk fried chicken or a barbecue entree, such as tender, spicy baby back ribs with pulled pork when I was there last Friday. Of course, I had to buy one of each.

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Food Gal Giveaway: Join Me at the Foster Farms Chicken Cook-Off in St. Helena

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Last year's winning dish, "Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts'' by Alexandria Bosell. (Photo courtesy of Foster Farms)

It’ll be a clucking good time at the second annual Foster Farms Fresh Cooking Contest at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Sept. 30.

Just like last year, yours truly once again will be one of the judges when six finalists will vie for a grand prize of $10,000 and a year’s supply of fresh chicken.

Last year’s champ, Alexandria Boswell of La Jolla, won top honors for her inspired dish of “Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts.”

Giveaway: Join me for this fun cook-off, where you’ll get to see all the action and taste all of the dishes. Here’s all you have to do:

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A Wine-Tasting Staycation in West Sonoma County

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The signature salmon dish at Corks restaurant at Russian River Vineyards.

If the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Highway 29 and the shoulder-to-shoulder squeeze in tasting rooms have left you anything but relaxed in the Napa Valley, there’s an antidote to that.

It’s Wine Country in West Sonoma County in the beautiful Russian River Valley.

Picture the Napa Valley before big-time tourism development took hold. Or even Lake Tahoe back in the day with its natural, picturesque scenery dotted with cabins rather than sprawling, gazillion-dollar resorts. That’s what this region of Sonoma County is like, from what I saw on my first visit there recently. It’s a little like stepping back into time, when wine-tasting still had a small-town feel to it all.

Soaring redwoods will leave you humbled.

I was invited to be a guest of Russian River Vineyards in Forestville, to come taste wines and stay for dinner at the restaurant, Corks. It’s the only restaurant at a winery in the Russian River Valley. So, it’s easy to see why it’s become a popular locale for weddings.

The drive there is breathtaking, as the Gravenstein Highway (116), winds through soaring redwood groves, whose lush canopies provide plenty of shade so that this part of Sonoma County remains fairly comfortable even on days when the rest of the region is sweltering.

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My Favorite East Bay Haunt — the Cheese Board

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My VERY favorite sourdough cheese rolls. Heaven! ($2 each)

If I am ever in the vicinity of the East Bay, there is one place I always have to stop — the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.

It doesn’t matter if I happen to be headed to Oakland or Emeryville. I gladly make the detour, put up with finding parking in Berkeley’s congested Gourmet Ghetto, and happily wait in line at this bakery.

Because the baked goods are just that good.

I’m talking sourdough cheese rolls so incredible that I almost always inhale one right when I get back into my car; the freshest English muffins with a plethora of lovely nooks and crannies; sweet, crumbly corn cherry scones the color of sunshine; and moist, deep, dark, wonderful chocolate cake loaves with a hint of coffee.

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Steven Raichlen’s Chinatown Ribs

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Ribs to make you go "wow.''

These are the ribs of my Chinese-American childhood — only way better.

You’ll recognize them by their deep, shiny red color of candied apples. They’re the sweet, sticky ribs so often enjoyed on appetizer platters at Chinese restaurants. I remember them as the ribs my late-Dad would pick up by the pound at a Chinatown deli, wrapped still warm in a foil-lined bag, which he toted home to enjoy for our weeknight family dinners with plenty of fluffy steamed rice alongside.

Barbecue-meister Steven Raichlen one-ups those with this recipe for “Chinatown Ribs” from scratch in his “Raichlen on Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs” (Workman). Their flavor, reminiscent of char siu or Chinese barbecued pork, is so much more vibrant than the ribs you can buy in Asian delis. There’s a far deeper complexity, what with the notes of ginger, garlic and star anise, plus the bite of fresh scallions strewn over the top. They’re also far juicier.

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